


18 Days Without the Courier

by LegendaryBard



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Basically everyone is in this - Freeform, Gen, this is kinda just short and stupid yo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 03:03:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6638689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegendaryBard/pseuds/LegendaryBard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when you leave a bunch of companions alone in the Lucky 38 for three weeks?</p>
            </blockquote>





	18 Days Without the Courier

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off of http://spacetwinks.tumblr.com/post/143091451811/ and if they see this for some weird reason, thank you for inspiring me to write this! Although it's not originally what you planned, lol.

It'd been three whole weeks without a word from the Courier- Disheartened, Lily had returned back to Jacobstown to tend to the Bighorners, Rex had gone back to live with the King, and Raul had picked up a job at Mick and Ralph's, living with them and offering a new flavour of expertise. Cass flip-flopped between a hotel room in Vault 21 and spending time at the Atomic Rangler's bar, easing the way with the money she made selling all the Van Graff's stuff. On the occasion, she would go to the Lucky 38, but only late at night when wasted off her ass and too lazy to get back to her room. ED-E, as per Arcade's wishes, skirted around the Presidential Suite to avoid him, and mostly kept to the Courier’s room, where Arcade didn’t usually go. Boone also stayed in the Lucky 38, spending a good amount of time in the Courier’s room. He didn't object to the Eyebot's presence at all, and was content to lounge around with the little robot. 

Arcade and Veronica both kept busy with offering the Followers in Freeside ( and the Followers in general ) aid, but continued to sleep in the Lucky 38 at night and generally hang out there. The Brotherhood weren’t hostile, but weren’t keen on having Veronica around, so she took up space in one of the Lucky 38’s beds. Similarly, Arcade gave up his bed in the old Mormon fort to a sick local, and stayed at Mr. House’s old casino. 

The entire roster of people who had known and touched the Courier's heart, who made the suite lively with both good-spirited arguments and chatter, reduced down to four out of eight. Which was, in some ways, a relief, as there were not eight beds and sleeping arrangements and food were always issues whenever everyone was over.

Despite the fact that everyone had a comfortable place to sleep, the arrangement itself was most assuredly _not_ comfortable.

Boone was openly hostile to the others, and simultaneously withdrawn and quiet. Arcade was biting, sarcastic, and bluntly honest, and kept mostly to himself, which suited Boone nicely. On the other hand, Veronica was peppy, enthusiastic, and eager to swap stories and endlessly talk with the other two men. ED-E was difficult to decipher, but tried to help as best as an armless little sphere could. The three people (and one robot) hadn't quite figured out yet how the dynamic of living there was supposed to work- Rubbing shoulders was awkward without Courier Six to ease the way, and they were all radically different in ideology, background, personality, and physicality. 

In truth, they all barely knew one another. Veronica had early-on confessed to being Brotherhood, and Boone called her a traitor to the NCR, which involved Arcade being the mediator and trying to keep the peace between them. Personally, he was worried about his own Enclave backround, and despite the fact that he’d shared with the Courier, telling Boone would practically be suicide. The one-sided tension between Boone and Veronica led to awkward nights, since there were a total of two usable beds and three people. While there were, in actuality, three beds, no one wanted to sleep on the Courier’s in an unspoken feeling of respect, and just the fact that sleeping in Six’s bed was weird. 

The apartment did have a bathroom, and a spacious one at that, but the door wasn't lockable, which meant a lot of hollering to keep out when someone was going to bathe or use the toilet. There was a good amount of awkwardness when anyone did so, especially with the animosity between the sniper and the former scribe. Veronica started taking her power fist with her whenever she bathed, as a precaution, and in response, Boone started taking his machete. Arcade called them both childish, and they were both snappish about it, but they continued to take weapons with them out of worry of some kind of attack when they were naked and vulnerable.

Friction- and not the good kind- was rapidly building. Veronica was upset with Boone's sandpaper hostility and silence, Boone was angry she was Brotherhood and so damnably _unabashedly curious,_ and Arcade was fed up with the childishness of both of them. Poor ED-E didn't even have a way to articulate how he felt about the heated debate, which meant when Veronica was slinking to the kitchen to pull something out of the fridge it was all he could do to get out of the way when Boone passed her by.

The Courier had left a majority of their things behind- Caps, being one of them, and quite an abundance. Over forty thousand in total, which all four of them were uncertain what to do with. Split it amongst themselves? Leave it? Arcade put in the idea to give it to the Followers to help fund a relief effort and get medical supplies, but Boone disagreed, saying it could help fund the war effort instead, and Veronica said that it was horribly wasteful, and said that the Courier could- and would- come back to get them, wherever they'd gone, and wouldn't they all look like idiots if they gave all the Courier's money away? 

ED-E chipped in with his opinion, but nobody could understand exactly what the assortment of beeps meant, so they, unfortunately, had to shrug him off. Veronica's answer held, and the only thing they used the stack of caps for was buying food and various other small things. There was a mutual understanding to not spend frivolously, although unbeknownst to each other, Boone spent caps to repair his rifle, Veronica bought a fancy dress, and Arcade slipped a good couple hundred caps to Julie for medical supplies. 

All this tension is finally- _finally-_ relieved when it turns out Six is, in fact, alive.

Veronica was lounging on a chair in the pool room, Boone was having a bath, and Arcade was attempting to read in the kitchen when the elevator started humming, signifying someone coming up. The only people with _keys_ to the Lucky 38 were Arcade, Boone, Veronica, and Cass- Raul gave his up, saying it might be sought after, Lily couldn't be trusted with one, and Rex and ED-E couldn't exactly use one. Cass was currently unconscious on one of the couches, since she'd drunk too much at the Omertas and had, in a surprising show of good judgment, decided that the Lucky 38 was easier to get to than her room in Vault 21, which left only one person to be on that elevator. 

"OHMYGOD SIX IS BACK!" Veronica screeched, getting up and rushing towards the elevator doors. Arcade's head whipped up upon hearing her, shoving his book down onto the table without bothering to mark his place, and splashes from the bathroom indicated Boone had attempted to scramble out of the tub in his haste to see the MIA Courier. 

When the elevator opened, a bedraggled, dusty person stepped out, undeniably the band’s missing friend. They were wearing peculiar armor, a white and black skintight suit and with considerably shorter (nearly shaved, but just long enough to suggest their head had been shaved a while ago) hair, but their face, their demeanor- it was _Six,_ eighteen days later.

Veronica fiercely tackle-hugged them, slamming them into the back of the elevator with almost enough force to cause a dent, then picking up the Courier and staggering backward into the Presidential Suite, whooping like a small child. Arcade cracked a smile, obviously trying to keep his composure, and Boone, who was still dripping wet, had jammed on his beret and a pair of raggedy sweat-pants, which were rapidly dampening since he hadn't the time to dry himself off. He lingered in the doorway of the bathroom, as if uncertain whether or not he should go back to the tub or fling himself at the Courier like Veronica. 

"Where have you BEEN!?" Veronica hooted loudly, finally letting go, much to Six's relief. The Courier coughed, gently pawing at their chest through the armor.

"Good _God,_ Veronica, I think you fractured one of my ribs." They wheezed, but judging by their tired grin, it was all in fun. 

"Sorry, but, ohmygod, you left without saying anything!" 

"Had to check something out, thought I should do it myself. I, uh, _wow,_ the _week_ I've had..." 

"It's been three weeks." Arcade put in dryly.

"Oh, shit, really? Oops." 

"WHOCARES! WHERE DID YOU GO!?" Veronica shouted brazenly. "I swear, was it the Legion? Did they come back to enslave you 'cos you beat them at the Dam? Did NCR kidnap you because you're not working for them? Some other thing?" 

"The NCR wouldn't do something like that!" Boone snapped from his position by the bathroom door. 

"No, no, no, it's nothing like that!" The Courier quickly interjected. "But I've got a lot to tell _all_ of you. Okay, okay, um- Boone, get dressed, and- Where's everyone else?"

"Cassidy passed out on the couch, Rex is with the King, Raul is rocking his internship with Mick and Ralph, and Lily's back in Jacobstown." Arcade rattled off, smartly. 

"Okay, uh, one of you go get Raul, and I'll tell you all where I've been, that sound fair? Arcade, why don't you go?" 

"Well, why me?" He's just as curious as Veronica about where Six has been, to be honest, and he doesn't want to get shunted out just as Six returns home. 

"Veronica's going to explode and possibly kill someone if she has to leave, and Boone's naked." 

"Sweatpan-" The sniper begins to object. 

"Seriously? Your pants are soaking wet, I can see _everything._ Your junk is, like, making a print in those." The Courier is unimpressed. "Towel off, put some clothes on, get on the couch. Veronica, please get me something to drink, I haven't had anything to drink in... Christ, so long. Arcade, go get Raul, 'cos I don't want to have to tell this story ten billion times. When Raul gets here, I'll tell you all what happened, okay?”

Arcade scrambles into the elevator, Veronica rushes into the kitchen, and Boone steps back into the bathroom, shutting the door. 

Six headed on into the room adjacent from the bathroom, gently moving Cass into a sitting position and sitting down, reclining back and laying their feet on the coffee table.

My God, it's been a _long_ three weeks.


End file.
